Cry for the Black Sun
by Apocalypticism
Summary: Repository for drabbles, short one shots, and the like. Main couple will be Beast Boy/Raven.
1. Hands

He sat on the bed, covers strewn around him in pools. The light was dim, cast by a single, solitary lamp on a table far across the room. In his arms was a girl, one he knew very well. One of his hands rested upon her thigh and the other was wrapped around her stomach. He chewed on his lip, a fang poking out from his lower lip. They had been sitting there together for an amount of time he had not bothered to count, right now, time did not exist. It was just her and him.

His girl, he liked referring to her as that, picked his hand up off her thigh and held it in her own tiny ones. He was ready to move away, just in case she was done cuddling, as she often was, but he stopped when she put a hand to the wrist of the arm around her stomach.

"I was looking at your hand." she said, no inflection was in her voice.

So Beast Boy watched as Raven examined his hand, and he began to notice how small and delicate her hands were. Her wrists were bony and seemed fragile against the weight of her hand. Raven's fingers were long and slender, tipped by short nails. Her knuckles were odd and out of place mountains on the smooth canvas of the back of her hand. His hand was rough, ugly next to hers. Beast Boy's skin was torn and raw and scabbed over. His fingernails were ridged, ragged edged things; some had jagged white splits streaking across them, and his pinky finger had no nail, it had been ripped out. Veins criss-crossed all over his hand and up his arm, knobbly and odd-coloured under his green skin. He could not see any veins under Raven's skin.

With callused palms, he enclosed her hand inside his. He knew that inside, she was just as rough as he was on the outside.


	2. Adoption

Adoption

"Beast Boy, Starfire, Jesus Christ! Someone get that kid out of the line of fire!" Robin shouted before he leaped down onto the head of a lizard minion created by Johnny Rancid.

Starfire noticed the small, blond dot down on the ground as a large, mechanical mouth reached for it. She quickly swooped down and bundled it in her arms, out of danger. Robin gave her a thumbs up as he stuck an exploding disc down the throat of the giant lizard. He leapt off and landed on the ground a safe distance away. The lizard's head exploded and the useless body tumbled to the ground in a heap of metal.

"Go sit that thing with the police!" Cyborg yelled to Starfire as he let a sonic cannon blast at a metal cheetah.

"They have not arrived!" Starfire said, letting off a barrage of starbolts at mechanical bats clustered around her.

Raven noticed Starfire trying to keep the child in her grasp. With her familiar battle cry, she seized the bats and crushed them. The crumpled hulls plummeted to the ground.

"Thank you, Raven," Starfire soared higher, out of the range of the battle.

Starfire took a look at the child. It was a tiny boy who could not have been more than three. He was red-faced from crying and exertion, and abrasions covered his pudgy arms and legs.

"Oh, dear _bumgorf_, where could your _knorfka_ be? She should be keeping an eye on you." Starfire whispered.

She looked back down at the battle just in time to see Beast Boy forcibly transformed back into his green self as he was thrown the ground. Raven was quickly swatted out of the air by a metal paw right after he was. Cyborg shouted, sparing a backward glance at his fallen team mates before letting a large sonic blast at the remaining minions. Robin noticed that two of his team were out of commission, and began to try and over compensate.

"Oh dear," Starfire gritted her teeth, the police still were not on the scene; she could see more minions crawling out of alleyways and storm drains.

Gripping the squalling child tightly to her chest, Starfire protected it the best she could and flew straight for another metal lizard. She shot straight through its head, arms covering the child's head. The child screamed louder as the beast crumpled behind Starfire. Johnny Rancid was laughing, face scrunched up as he pressed buttons on a complicated control box.

Starfire remedied that with a swift, full strength kick to his face. She dragged her foot down and freed the box from his hands. It clanged loudly as it bounced against the pavement. Before Johnny Rancid could pull his hands away from his broken face, Starfire stomped on the control box, and promptly, all the minions stopped where they were. She then flew over to the coming police cars.

The squad squealed to a stop and immediately officers began to pour out of their respective cars. Starfire dropped to the ground as armed officers took Johnny Rancid into custody.

"You got a child?" one of the policemen asked.

"Yes," Starfire said as Robin came over, "it was in the middle of the fight and was in danger of being injured."

The child was still squalling and struggling against Starfire's vice-like grip.

"Everyone's off the scene, nobody was talking about missing a child and that's a pretty big thing to miss!" another officer commented.

"Quite," Robin said, looking at the poor thing.

"We'll give the kid a once over, make sure it's okay, if you guy could watch it, we'll find the parents." he said.

"Yes! I would love to watch the child!" Starfire vouched immediately.

"Watch a what now?" Beast Boy narrowed one eye as Cyborg helped him limp over.

"A sweet baby boy," Starfire smiled as she turned to face him, then her smile faded, "what happened, Beast Boy?"

"He's gonna be out of commission for a while, I checked an' his legs are broken." Cyborg sighed.

Beast Boy grinned weakly, gloved hands straining for grip on Cyborg's smooth arms. Robin sighed. Fantastic. Now not only did they have to watch a toddler, they had a team member unable to fight. And now they would have to loose another, someone to watch the child as well as take care of Beast Boy.

"Damn Rancid's legion monster tossed me like fifty feet to the ground! I tried to transform quick but I guess not." Beast Boy said as he was lowered into a stretcher by the paramedics. "This hurts like a bitch by the way."

"Good to know Beast Boy, Starfire stopped it before it got out of hand." Robin sighed again, then went with the police chief to talk.

"Why don't you go back to the tower, Star, Raven?" Cyborg suggested. "I can go with B to the hospital,"

"Yes, let's go before the news crews arrive, Starfire," Raven said dryly.

"But the baby!" Starfire ran over to the ambulance treating the child.

The child had calmed down, but his face was still red, eyes still puffy. His arms had several spots shiny with antibacterial cream, but there were no bandages. Starfire took that as a good sign. The child sat there, swaying slightly as he snuffled and rubbed blearily at his eyes. The paramedic was tidying things up and looked over when he heard Starfire approaching.

"Nothing serious, ma'am, he's just banged up. Hasn't told me his name, yet."

"That's okay, we'll worry about that, sir. Thank you for treating his injuries." Starfire said. She picked up the boy, who clung tightly to Starfire's arms.

"No problem, ma'am." the paramedic said.

Starfire flew back over to Raven. People were starting to gather at the scene, yellow tape had been strung around the perimeter; a barrier to the curious public. Metallic debris still littered the street, getting photographed by the police. Robin was giving a full report of the battle to the police chief and the ambulance that held Beast Boy had already departed for the hospital.

"How should we get back to the tower? Would your teleportation frighten him too much?" Starfire asked Raven.

"Most likely." Raven pulled her hood up, chanted her mantra, then rose into the air. Starfire did the same, and they both made for the tower. The boy had his eyes shut tight and still kept a vice-like grip on Starfire's arms. When they reached the island, Raven vanished, most likely to go to her room. Starfire bent down for the eye-scan panel. It beeped and flung a line of light through her eye, then beeped again. The main door split apart and Starfire went inside.

In the common room, she set the child on the couch. It looked around the common room with frightened eyes. Starfire spent the next few minutes darting through the tower, bringing the young boy toys, food, and various other items she thought would be entertaining. She squatted down in front of the boy and put on her biggest smile.

"Will you tell me your name, dear child?"

The boy shook his head no.

"Please?"

Silence.

"His name is Liam." Raven said.

Starfire looked up. She had not heard Raven come into the room, but there Raven was, making herself tea.

"How did you — ?" Starfire got up from her knees.

"He told me. He has some psychic abilities." Raven said as she poured out steaming water into her teacup.

"Oh," Starfire said, looking down sadly at Liam. "Has he said anything else?"

"Nothing. I asked him other questions, but he didn't answer." Raven said.

"I do hope they locate his parents quickly," Starfire said as Liam started to cry.

–

"Ow, ow, what the fuck, Cy?! Just let me get myself onto the couch," Beast Boy huffed grumpily.

"Okay, man, calm down," Cyborg held his hands up in defeat as he let Beast Boy scoot himself from the wheel chair to the couch.

Starfire watched, holding Liam, who had calmed down considerably and was now asleep in her arms. Her heart went out for Beast Boy, he would be unable to help the team for several months. Liam snorted in his sleep. Beast Boy's eye's narrowed at the child.

"He better be well behaved," he snapped.

"He has been, Raven was able to calm him down. And Cyborg," Starfire dropped her voice to a whisper, "Beast Boy needs some of the _morphine_."

"Well, it's close," Cyborg rattled a bottle of pills over Beast Boy's head. "Who's a good boy? Who wants some Vicodin?"

"You're an asshole," Beast Boy moaned, flopping back on the couch.

"That is mean, Cyborg," Starfire said.

"Hey, I was going to give them to him... eventually." Cyborg muttered. "Raven, pop a glass of water over here!"

Raven looked over from the cabinet containing her boxes and tins of tea. She grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and teleported it to the coffee table in front of the couch. Cyborg dropped the correct dosage of pills into Beast Boy's waiting hand. Beast Boy chased them down with the glass of water.

"Tastes like evil," Beast Boy stuck his tongue out.

"I am right here in the kitchen, you know." Raven said, her voice louder than normal so Beast Boy could hear.

"I meant the pills, I meant them," Beast Boy said.

He propped himself up with pillows and turned on the TV, waiting for the pain-free, drug-induced stupor to kick in.

"Sure you did, grass stain. Well, we all have our communicators if you need anything." Cyborg said.

He ruffled Beast Boy's hair then left the common room to repair the T-Car. Starfire watched Beast Boy flip through channels before deciding that there was nothing worth watching on. She went to go find Robin.

He turned out to be in the evidence room, meticulously updating the database and files about the recent scuffle with Johnny Rancid. Starfire knocked on the door frame. Robin looked up, then went back to typing on the computer. Starfire stepped into the room, walked up to him, and put her free hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Star," he said. "You're going to have to watch the kid, unless you can pawn it off to someone else."

"It is okay, Robin, I will watch Liam."

"Is that the kids name?" Robin asked distractedly.

"Yes. I will leave you to your... OCD's now." Starfire said and left.

"OCD's? What have Beast Boy and Cyborg been telling her?" Robin muttered to himself.

–

Starfire watched Liam sleep on the small bed beside hers. It was for Silkie, but Starfire had told Silkie that he would have to be polite and give up his bed for their guest. She thought Liam looked like a little angel; his red face had quieted down and was now pale. His small fist sat just so next to his mouth as that his thumb was barely touching his lips. Strawberry blond hair curled into wispy tendrils. Some of the curls tumbled in his escaping breath.

The angel illusion was shattered as the alarm went off, with its klaxon wail and red light. Liam woke up and started wailing in time with the alarm. Starfire grabbed him and flew toward the common room where the team had gathered. Beast Boy was in a drug coma on the couch, however, and did not wake up for the alarm.

"It's some robber, east of down town," Robin said. "Let's go."

The rest of the team dashed off through the door. Liam started screaming and struggling against Starfire's hold as soon as the room was empty.

"No! NO! Ravan! I want Ravan!" Liam shouted, trying to worm his way out of Starfire's arms.

"Raven needs to help the city, Liam." Starfire told the child.

"No! No no no!" Liam bawled

He started to beat Starfire's arm with his tiny fists as tears leaked out of his eyes. Liam's face grew red and he was breathing hard. There was a shout from the hall.

Starfire gently stopped Liam's fists with her hand. "That is not nice," she told him.

The doors hissed as the opened and Starfire looked up to see Cyborg carrying an unconscious Raven.

"Oh X'hal! What happened?" Starfire gasped.

"She just collapsed. I don' know why, scans say everything's fine. I'm going to take her to her room, Robin and I can handle a simple robber." Cyborg said.

Starfire set Liam, who had calmed down when he saw Raven, on the floor. He toddled over to Cyborg and Raven's eyes fluttered open. She put her thin hand to her forehead as her eyes darted around.

"Raven, are you feeling okay?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine." she looked down at Liam. "Starfire, I will stay with Liam and Beast Boy. You go on ahead with Cyborg."

"Are you sure, Raven?" Starfire asked.

"Yes, thank you Cyborg." Raven said.

"No problem, li'l lady. C'mon Star, let's not keep Robin waiting," Cyborg said. He had learned to let things with Raven slide.

When they were gone, Raven picked up Liam and sat him on the kitchen counter. His lip wobbled, he knew what was coming.

"Liam, you cannot do that to get your way" Raven told him sternly. "It is wrong."

Liam started to snuffle.

"I will tell them all to listen to you and how you like to talk." Raven said.

Liam snuffed again. Pictures appeared in Raven's mind: a crowd; an upward view of a young, slender girl; then her face at what Raven presumed to be Liam's eye level. The girl came in for a kiss, her eyes were apologetic. She was gone; the crowd seemed demonic. Raven felt Liam's pure emotions, his sheer terror and hurt at being left alone in the crowd in the middle of the street. She also felt the resonating memory guilt that Liam had picked up from the girl.

"Mama go," Liam whispered.

His little hands reached out for Raven as his eyes welled up with tears again. Raven took pity on him and held the boy while he cried.

When the team returned, Robin singled Raven out for a talk. She was in the kitchen, adding some honey to a cup of tea.

"Cyborg told me—" he started.

"That I collapsed, yes. I need to talk to _you_ about that." Raven said as she finished stirring her tea and set the spoon in the sink.

Raven looked into the commons area: Beast Boy was still on the couch, sleeping; Starfire was playing a Tamaranian child's game with Liam. Cyborg entered the room and saw Robin with Raven. He made a beeline for the kitchen.

"What about it?" Robin asked, taking a soda from the refrigerator.

"Liam has impressive mental abilities. He caused me to faint. He also showed me that his mother left him."

"So he's a metahuman... maybe that's why his mother didn't want him, she didn't want to raise one." Robin mused.

"She was very young. They probably compounded together." Raven said after a sip of tea.

"That's sad, the stupid little guy's started to grow on me." Cyborg looked at Starfire and Liam.

"Why did he cause you to faint?" Robin looked serious.

"He seemed to feel that I understood him the best, our powers share a common root." Raven said. "His emotions are unrestrained, I could feel his terror when I left. Perhaps he was afraid I would leave him like his mother."

Robin was silent. Liam let out peals of pure laughter, bemused by the silly faces Starfire was making.

–

Starfire held Liam while Robin talked to the social workers. Starfire was sad, Liam was leaving them today. But she knew it was impractical for them to keep a child. Raven felt Starfire's emotions and knew that she loved the child. Liam had grown attached to all the Titans. He had a habit of only going to sleep if Beast Boy was in the room with him.

So she glided to Robin and the social workers. "I request that Liam visits us biweekly for training. His powers are too dangerous to not be controlled." Raven said.

"Yes. He is a metahuman. He will need training." Robin said as he glanced sidelong at Raven.

"All right... no better than the Titans to provide that, I suppose," the social worker seemed sceptical but knew that the Titans were trustworthy.

Starfire's eyes shone and she whispered to Liam, "You will get to see us!"

–

I'm not quite sure if there was a point to this :x


	3. Instrumental

His hands swept across her shoulders, fingertips rough upon her skin. Tracing her form right up to her chin, her chin found its way between his thumb and forefinger. She parted her milk lips, her eyes closed slightly and she moved easily with his direction. He brought his lips to hers, then pulled back.

A strangled sound escaped her lips and she turned it into a cough. Beast Boy brought his hand back to Raven's shoulder. He heard his name called. Raven's eyebrows lowered slightly, her face showing emotion for a fraction of a second. With a lingering touch and doleful eyes, Beast Boy left the room.

–

His cheek was pressed to hers, he was gripping her close to him. Raven felt the radiating heat; she pulled away and brushed his red cheek with a slim, cool finger. Beast Boy marvelled at how smooth her hands were. Her eyes softened and she cupped his face in her hands. Thumbs soothed his red eyes; thumbs wiped away salt and water clinging to his lashes.

She always knew exactly how he was feeling, without him even having to say a word. He was grateful for that, because sometimes, it was useless to try and explain what he felt inside.

–

I was inspired by Eluveitie's song Anagantios. I wanted to try and explore the actions between BB and Raven, I guess. The song is really pretty by the way. I love folk metal because they'll sometimes have beautiful instrumental songs.


	4. Shoes

Beast Boy had a secret. It was a terrible, embarrassing, horrible secret. He had hid successfully for years, and he wasn't about to let anybody find out. No body, ever.

He didn't know how to tie his shoes.

"Beast Boy, oh, Beast Boy! I desire to ask a question of you!" Starfire called to him one day.

"I'm over here, Star. What's up?" Beast Boy called from the couch in the common room.

Starfire entered the room and from the undulating waves of perfume coming off her, he could tell she had been to the mall. She came over to him and dropped a shopping bag into his lap.

"I was buying the dress shoes for Robin, but they are too small for him... and Cyborg does not need the shoes. It would be a shame for them to go to waste. Would you try them on?" she asked.

"Sure," Beast Boy sat up straighter. He opened up the shoe box: it contained a pair of polished, pointed, black shoes with stiff heels. So he pulled off his purple boots and stuffed one foot into the uncomfortable thing. It fit well though. He put his foot in the other one and stood up, walking around a little. "They fit fine."

"Oh no! You did not tie them! You cannot know if they are too tight or too loose without tying them!" Starfire cried.

"...uhuh, who says that you need to do that to get a feel for a good fit?" Beast Boy found himself sweating.

"They will fall off your feet!"

"I'm not going to be fighting crime in these things," Beast Boy laughed nervously.

Starfire was silent for a second, looking ponderous, before saying, "You do not know how to tie your shoes!"

"Do too!" he said indignantly.

Starfire leaned into Beast Boy and whispered in his ears "I do not know how to tie the knot for shoe laces either," before giggling nervously.

Beast Boy started laughing too. Okay, so maybe some people could know about it.

–

I am aware that Beast Boy can probably tie his own shoes (since he went to do it on the episode with Mother Mae Eye,) but I thought it would be something interesting and my brain just sort of spun into gear.


	5. So I Drink

"Alone I sit... I wonder why. You dream of love and so do I. But in your sleep you cannot see this pain which is always haunting me. What I need I will never feel..." Raven mused.

The man sleeping next to her was unaware of her thoughts, her actions, her presence. In the dim light of the room, his shock of sable hair was a gaping hole against the pillow. Raven drew the fine-stemmed glass of wine to her pale lips and took a sip, closing her eyes to enjoy the taste. It was a fine wine.

She looked out the window. It was raining. Raven drew a breath and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Looking down her nose into her wine glass, she contemplated her existence.

If she thought, sensed, and affirmed her presence by conversing with others, of course, she must exist. But what was to exist feeling nothing good or desirable? Was existing as such so one-dimensional?

"This world for me is unreal," Raven left the bed, letting the wine carelessly spill on the bed.

She watched the crimson stain spread with mild interest. When her affinity for the stain was exhausted, she looked upon the sleeping man. His face was bathed in a warm glow from a steadily burning candle upon the bedside table. Although the expression was serene, Raven knew the darkness that lay beneath it.

He had come to her, he had laid himself open, hung himself up to dry. Of course she could commiserate with him, they were eerily alike. But that connection felt false, felt artificial. It was why she was alone, even with a dear friend next to her.

Raven walked to the window, staring out into the dreary, wet night. The city was unusually dark. Although she usually embraced the darkness, it began to feel more like a prison. It was a cage of horrid thoughts, disgusting emotions, everything she wanted to hide and lock away.

A sigh escaped the sleeping man's lips, extinguishing the single candle.

Raven fetched her glass from the bed and poured herself another measure of wine. "The more I drink, the more I see that suicide could be the key to the place called paradise, where pain not dwells, not hate nor lies."

She held the glass up the window, examining the glow of the liquid in the ghostly light. Her delicate fingers twined themselves around the stem and she brought the glass to her lips again.

The sound of someone stirring brought her gaze back to Robin, the man in bed. A rare grin stretched itself across her lips. "The sleeping beauty... he stops the bleeding. He's fresh air in this stinking world."

Raven could not imagine herself without Robin. Even though that connection was delicate and brittle, it was one none the less and greatly valued. For how could she forsake someone who care so deeply for her? How could she forsake a soul who treasured her and loved her? "If I look beyond all this, I reckon something I would surely miss. Because in my dreams I rule my life... and the sleeping beauty, he is mine."

The man's eyes fluttered, he turned and fixed his harsh stare upon Raven. She drained her glass and let it drop the ground with a crash, then vanished from the room.

Robin sat up. Raven was like a phantom. But he saw the evidence of her existence: the broken glass, the empty bottle, the crimson stain, the melted candle. He was startled, yet that gave him courage to walk to Raven's room. She lay on her bed, feigning sleep. Robin knew that she could hear him.

"You dream of love and so do I. But in your sleep you cannot see this pain which is always haunting me. What I need I will never feel..."

–

Yeah I don't know what this is. I'm in a dark way lately and I was listening to Tiamat's The Sleeping Beauty on repeat.

No crits please. I know it's rather creepy, Raven watching Robin while he sleeps.


End file.
